The Official WWE / NXT Discussion Thread *May Contain Spoilers*

[djthefunkchris]

A friend of mine was watching for the first time in years, and he said... "Was that some boo's for Rock?"

 

I honestly couldn't tell, but it was before he started talking, all I heard was cheers, but I was warming my dinner up at the time and didn't get into it til he started talking. My wife answered him saying very little. I didn't give it any thought at the time, but if he's getting any boo's at all, I'm a bit shocked...

 

Cena seemed to throw Rock off, but I'm thinking that was just good acting on Rock's part. Cena needs to get more emotional over this. I figure he will, but he should be going full throttle at this time. Waiting till the last week isn't going to get him any support. I honestly expected more from him. I understand that WWE doesn't see Cena getting any cheers for this event, but I can't understand Cena not putting forth more of an effort... just to see if he can. I'm starting to think he feels he can do it at any time and is biding his time, or he perhaps he just wants Rock to get all the cheers, maybe he's hoping Rock starts loving it so much he decides to be a bigger part, I don't know.

 

Overall though, I'm more let down by Cena then Rock. Rock's going to do Rock, I don't expect more or less. However, Cena did the job, but he did just enough and that was it. If not for the final "Trending" thing, there was actually, nothing I liked about his promo. He has, and can do alot better, but for some reason didn't.

[bigtplaystew]

If the Rock was acting, he should be putting Marlon Brando to shame with every movie. Oddly, he doesn't

[Nathers7]

Jericho - Punk promo was great, both guys at their best there. Looking forward to this more than Rock-Cena to be honest.

 

The Rock had a great promo, they should have had them stand off instead of Cena walking away lol (took away from Cena's excellent promo, I also agree they both need to cut down on the comedy, surely the main event is supposed to be serious). Funny how the crowd was actually quite positive for Cena against Miz but then in a few minutes of Rock talking it was back to normal (fruity pebbles, lady parts).

[milamber]

Punk v Bryan - Awesome mic war between Punk and Jericho. I'm a huge Punk fan but I'm almost hoping Jericho wins at Mania. The match was purely a setup for the GM v GM feud at Mania (and the 2 title matches) but it was still fun.

 

Cena v Miz - Sign of the show: Miz, remember when you mattered? Miz deserves a main event push this year (perhaps on SD). Would have liked a Miz win but Cena was always going to win this match.

 

Triple Threat Tag Title Match - Hell yes. Good way to inject some life into the tag division. Didn't expect Primo & Epico to retain though or for Kane to come out and clear house.

 

Eve can use me anytime she wants

 

The Rock - He doesn't need to open his mouth, the crowd reaction says it all. Kung Pow Bitch!

 

This Raw got me totally excited about Wrestlemania.

[ThatChizzle]

lol Cena called The Rock on writing notes on his wrist.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muLM6yAj1ig&feature=player_detailpage

[Tha Black Phenom]

If the Rock was acting, he should be putting Marlon Brando to shame with every movie. Oddly, he doesn't

 

He doesn't have to, this is the WWE. Standards are lowered

 

I think the issue with their promo is that Rock dragged a lot in his allotted time(who on Earth thought of giving him 15+ min of mic time, even if he is The Rock), while Cena appeared for two minutes and delivered his own material. If Rock was there for five minutes, and hadn't relied on that Twitter/crowd pandering ish, he'd have come off much better too.

[Imarevenant]

That's the Cena you wanna see? Jostling down the ring with a cheerful smile for the umpteenth time? I'm with DJ on this one, I don't just wanna see the tension when they're face to face, I wants it to be fierce you can cut it with a knife. But again Cena does that thing where he acts like the insults don't phase him and he can laugh it off... we've seen it all before, should be crunch time by now. The rest was good, it's just, ergh. It doesn't hurt to react, John.

 

 

This is why I am not a Cena fan tbh. The big ol cheesy grin when he comes out to the ring, the bantering with the camera man, the little smiles and basically no selling anything anyone says to him in a promo, all that stuff just grates on me. I mean surely it wouldn't help at all if he acted like his opponent was a threat every now and then.

 

I will be fair and say he did tone that stuff down with the Kane storyline and that Cena was much much more tolerable for me. It's a shame it's back to the usual mugging for the cameras now that things have moved into the Wrestlemania match though.

[Wrestling Century]

This is why I am not a Cena fan tbh. The big ol cheesy grin when he comes out to the ring, the bantering with the camera man, the little smiles and basically no selling anything anyone says to him in a promo, all that stuff just grates on me. I mean surely it wouldn't help at all if he acted like his opponent was a threat every now and then.

 

I will be fair and say he did tone that stuff down with the Kane storyline and that Cena was much much more tolerable for me. It's a shame it's back to the usual mugging for the cameras now that things have moved into the Wrestlemania match though.

 

The cheesy grin is starting to grow on me, and now the only thing that I hate about Cena is the way he no sells everything that is said to him. But other than that, I think that he is entertaining. A great in-ring wrester? No. A great Entertainer? Yes.

[Candyman]

I honestly think that "people upset about Rock being put in the Main Event" is just part of their storylines/characters. I can't see anyone (including Punk or Cena) actually not liking the idea of having The Rock around.

 

Agree 100%. It's too coincidental that it's just now coming up, now that Rock's back and the road to WrestleMania is in full force. If it was legit, we would've heard about it a year ago, or at Survivor Series at the latest.

 

Cena killing Rock for the second year in a row...

 

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's fun to see. His promos are great to watch and it's nice knowing all of his haters are out there left with nothing bad to say about him. (I mean, the best they can come up with is he "no sells what people say to him." Really?) But on the other hand...it can't help but make you think how entertaining he could be year round if he wasn't handicapped by the PG Era whenever he's not talking about The Rock.

 

A friend of mine was watching for the first time in years, and he said... "Was that some boo's for Rock?"

 

I honestly couldn't tell, but it was before he started talking, all I heard was cheers, but I was warming my dinner up at the time and didn't get into it til he started talking. My wife answered him saying very little. I didn't give it any thought at the time, but if he's getting any boo's at all, I'm a bit shocked...

 

I don't remember hearing any boos before he started talking, either. But I can't say I would be stunned if he did get some. Remember that the fans forcefully turned him heel after the first couple times he left to make movies and came back, viewing him as a sellout and whatnot. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a portion of the crowd that felt that way, a portion of the crowd upset abou him saying he was home and never leaving...and then leaving, again. (He definitely got booed when he brought up that comment and tried to justify it. "That didn't mean I would be on every Raw" etc.)

 

Cena seemed to throw Rock off, but I'm thinking that was just good acting on Rock's part.

 

Really? That'd be a hell of an acting job. I don't buy it. He may have been trying to act flustered, but he was definitely legitimately thrown off at the same time.

 

As for Cena "no selling" Rock's promo, I'm not entirely sure what he was supposed to sell. Rock's promo was heavy on crowd interaction, crowd chants, twitter trends, and all that fun stuff, but it was pretty light on Cena insults. He was in the ring for 15 minutes and all he did was call him a kung pow bitch and make fun of his camo shorts, which was a great line, but it's still only one line.

 

It should be noted that Cena's planned promo was probably rather different than what was presented given how long The Rock went. Cena should've had more time to work and The Rock probably had more to say for Cena to respond to.

[Tha Black Phenom]

As for Cena "no selling" Rock's promo, I'm not entirely sure what he was supposed to sell. Rock's promo was heavy on crowd interaction, crowd chants, twitter trends, and all that fun stuff, but it was pretty light on Cena insults. He was in the ring for 15 minutes and all he did was call him a kung pow bitch and make fun of his camo shorts, which was a great line, but it's still only one line.

 

Well then what is it gonna take? Is The Rock gonna have to deliver a Hannibal Lecture about his life? (which he would probably no-sell as well) Is The Rock gonna have to head over to Cena's place and slap the taste off his dad like Edge did?

 

We're getting close to the big event, and clearly last week Cena looked like something lit in his eye. Last week is the only reason I'm making a case about this. He gave a scathing promo and the fans were left wanting for more. On Internet boards and all over Twitter, people were saying "if Cena could be like this every week..." "this is the Cena I want" and so on. Many would assume the feudin' has at least turned up a notch. Then we get to this... all I saw IMO was a pre-Survivor Series flashback. Cena acted the exact same as when he came out to confront Rock and Awesome Truth. I'm not saying he should've necessarily been throwing his shirt off in anger, but give us something in your demeanor to make us wish for more for next week, like last week did. Superstars in the WWE trade fists for less than that ballsless quip from Rocky, and Cena has more than enough charisma on the mic to sell a knock knock joke.

 

The rest was fine, with the "nice tat" and the trending line. Still though everything seems like they're just trading words so far; hopefully he's holding out for more.

[ThatChizzle]

Cena isn't really "no selling" things that The Rock says to him, read his shirt. Cena is Rising Above Hate. Like the 80's, Don't Hate...Rotate lol

[djthefunkchris]

Cena isn't really "no selling" things that The Rock says to him, read his shirt. Cena is Raising Above Hate. Like the 80's, Don't Hate...Rotate lol

 

To be honest, I thought the smile was because The Rock come out and did/said exactly, almost in the exact same way, what John Cena said he was going to do the week before. It's like a taunt more then a "no sell"... "Did I call it or did I call it?" is how I took it.

 

Rumor has it that Cena coming out was unplanned, and Cena took advantage of his ability to ad lib. The Rock's the best on the mic, but isn't able to do the "on the fly" stuff Cena has been doing for years now. IF you noted, the lights were late, the camera's seemed to fly around a bit, etc... when Cena's music hit. Live show, something happening that wasn't planned, I can understand all that happening and it makes sense given what happened.

 

The whole Cena "No Selling" words is lame in my opinion... Not only did I take it completely different (in a way that seems obvious to me), but it's not like The Rock took anything serious Cena had to say, up till he messed him up with "I don't need my promo notes on my wrist, Nice tattoo by the way."

[Basmat01]

The Rock's the best on the mic, but isn't able to do the "on the fly" stuff Cena has been doing for years now

 

So The Rock had a alittle cheat sheet on his arm and all of a sudden he cant do "on the fly"? Well the Rock did 99% of his promos live backstage rather than pre-tape and all wrestlers are given a little direction on where a promo should go and what point they need to get across and its the wrestlers job to fill in the blanks and Cena and Rock are no different.

[juggaloninjalee]

CM Punk stuttered more than the Rock on RAW. Was that Jericho making him fumble his words too?

 

CM Punk in my opinion didn't really one up the Rock except for the notes on his arm thing. That was a nice dig that I never noticed before.

[djthefunkchris]

So The Rock had a alittle cheat sheet on his arm and all of a sudden he cant do "on the fly"? Well the Rock did 99% of his promos live backstage rather than pre-tape and all wrestlers are given a little direction on where a promo should go and what point they need to get across and its the wrestlers job to fill in the blanks and Cena and Rock are no different.

 

Honestly, I don't care if he writes whole promo's up and down his arm. I'm not going by that at all... I'm going by what happened after Cena come to the ring, acknowledged "same ole same ole" and left him standing there looking embarressed, and no direction to go.

 

That had nothing to do with the notes on his arm.

[djthefunkchris]

CM Punk stuttered more than the Rock on RAW. Was that Jericho making him fumble his words too?

 

CM Punk in my opinion didn't really one up the Rock except for the notes on his arm thing. That was a nice dig that I never noticed before.

 

Honestly, I thought Jericho sounded better between the two... don't know where The Rock fits in there. The Rock sounded spectacular (at least to me).

[juggaloninjalee]

Honestly, I thought Jericho sounded better between the two... don't know where The Rock fits in there. The Rock sounded spectacular (at least to me).

 

I feel the same way. The Rock was typical Rock. That means he was still great. Best promo man in the business.

[Fantabulous]

The wrestlers being upset about Rock is quite legitimate. What amazes me is that you get the usual suspects writing it off as storyline because 'it makes no sense' or some other such reasoning to avoid believing something not notarized by WWE and thus risk being fooled. Wrestling is filled with petty grievances and viewpoints that, to the outsider, look silly and make no sense. You really think it's such a reach that wrestlers would get jealous of a big star coming in for a few weeks and, in their mind, 'taking the spot' of a guy who has been there all year? Yeah, that would never happen. Wrestling is full of level headed and stable people who wouldn't have such petty jealousies.

[Astil]

The wrestlers being upset about Rock is quite legitimate. What amazes me is that you get the usual suspects writing it off as storyline because 'it makes no sense' or some other such reasoning to avoid believing something not notarized by WWE and thus risk being fooled. Wrestling is filled with petty grievances and viewpoints that, to the outsider, look silly and make no sense. You really think it's such a reach that wrestlers would get jealous of a big star coming in for a few weeks and, in their mind, 'taking the spot' of a guy who has been there all year? Yeah, that would never happen. Wrestling is full of level headed and stable people who wouldn't have such petty jealousies.

 

Im level headed and Id still get miffed.

[Rone Rivendale]

I've been saying since WM last year that The Rock didn't deserve to be in the main event of WM this year. That he is nothing but a sell out. And I am SO glad that Cena brings up constantly the fact that The Crock said he was never going to leave again and then left again.

 

I was a big fan of The Rock back in the late 90's back when his passion was for wrestling and not for paychecks. He WAS in fact the best promo guy in the business. However, the business has changed. The Rock doing the same type of promos he did back then (catch phrase, crowd pop, catch phrase, crowd pop, etc) doesn't fit in anymore. Today's WWE superstars do promos that are much better written now. The Rock is just too cartoony.

 

And it doesn't help that he is just going to leave again after WM. Why should I give a crap about whether he wins or loses against Cena?

[Tha Black Phenom]

I'd bet a beer you wouldn't have given a crap either way Rock explained about him leaving again, if you seriously expected a movie star to show up every week, on every Raw & SD, then it's your loss. Even movie stars penciled in for guest host spots end up canceling/rescheduling.

 

The whole Cena "No Selling" words is lame in my opinion... Not only did I take it completely different (in a way that seems obvious to me), but it's not like The Rock took anything serious Cena had to say, up till he messed him up with "I don't need my promo notes on my wrist, Nice tattoo by the way."

 

I agree, it wasn't the best term to use. He did acknowledge Rock's jokes and all, I just went into that tangent to make my point.

 

Just.. throw some emotion into it, y'know? Like I said, it still feels like a mild war of words so far, and because of that I'm getting far more invested into Jericho/Punk, their promo was golden on all counts. If Cena came down the ramp like a man on a mission, especially after last week's promo, I would've anticipated this matchup equally, and given my props to Cena over Rock.

[BurningHamster]

I feel the same way. The Rock was typical Rock. That means he was still great. Best catchphrase man in the business.

 

Fixed that for ya

[djthefunkchris]

I'd bet a beer you wouldn't have given a crap either way Rock explained about him leaving again, if you seriously expected a movie star to show up every week, on every Raw & SD, then it's your loss. Even movie stars penciled in for guest host spots end up canceling/rescheduling.

 

 

 

I agree, it wasn't the best term to use. He did acknowledge Rock's jokes and all, I just went into that tangent to make my point.

 

Just.. throw some emotion into it, y'know? Like I said, it still feels like a mild war of words so far, and because of that I'm getting far more invested into Jericho/Punk, their promo was golden on all counts. If Cena came down the ramp like a man on a mission, especially after last week's promo, I would've anticipated this matchup equally, and given my props to Cena over Rock.

/nod. Like I said, Cena is capable of alot more, and that wasn't what I thought I was going to see. Maybe I was expecting too much? I don't know, but I would have prefered a more "Stone Coldish" responce... Come down to the ring (like you said, looking like he meant bussiness)... Slide into the ring like he normally would, do his full entrance thing no matter if everyone is boo'ing or not, as if Rock isn't even there. The stick it to him and leave. That's what I think I would have rather seen...

[djthefunkchris]

The wrestlers being upset about Rock is quite legitimate. What amazes me is that you get the usual suspects writing it off as storyline because 'it makes no sense' or some other such reasoning to avoid believing something not notarized by WWE and thus risk being fooled. Wrestling is filled with petty grievances and viewpoints that, to the outsider, look silly and make no sense. You really think it's such a reach that wrestlers would get jealous of a big star coming in for a few weeks and, in their mind, 'taking the spot' of a guy who has been there all year? Yeah, that would never happen. Wrestling is full of level headed and stable people who wouldn't have such petty jealousies.

 

Honestly, I would like to believe it, as it would make everything even more interesting. I just have a hard time since it was bassically one of the things CM Punk brought up in that awesome promo he did, oh so long ago. Why would they just now be reporting it, outside of it coming close to Wrestlemania time. I imagine I'm going to here a few people complain about it on the shows now, as it gets closer. It's just something I can see happening, since Punk bassically planted that seed. I guess a few of them might legitimately be upset, but I'd need alot more reason to believe it then just your opinion. IF you are right, all the better. It's really something that doesn't matter UNLESS it becomes part of the show.

[juggaloninjalee]

I've been saying since WM last year that The Rock didn't deserve to be in the main event of WM this year. That he is nothing but a sell out. And I am SO glad that Cena brings up constantly the fact that The Crock said he was never going to leave again and then left again.

 

I was a big fan of The Rock back in the late 90's back when his passion was for wrestling and not for paychecks. He WAS in fact the best promo guy in the business. However, the business has changed. The Rock doing the same type of promos he did back then (catch phrase, crowd pop, catch phrase, crowd pop, etc) doesn't fit in anymore. Today's WWE superstars do promos that are much better written now. The Rock is just too cartoony.

 

And it doesn't help that he is just going to leave again after WM. Why should I give a crap about whether he wins or loses against Cena?

 

What is wrong with a guy wanting to make more money? Everybody wants more money. I know I want my boss to give me more money and I'd leave for more money if I had the chance.

 

We don't know that he went to movies for the money. Maybe he went for the lighter schedule.

 

Also the Rock had made more appearances on RAW in the last year than Undertaker, and maybe about the same as HHH. So are Undertaker and HHH sell outs?

 

The last thing I am going to say is I loved how the Portland crowd got loud for the Rock. Crowds don't pop like that usually anymore. In the late 90s and early 2000's they did a lot! That is what I think I miss most about back then.